Waiting Up For Santa
by Sandblasted-Kitten
Summary: It's Christmas time, and North is really busy. So Jack decides to stay up and wait for North to come home. But Santa doesn't come to children who are awake.


I've read a lot of fics where Jack is living at the North Pole with North and thought this would be kind of a funny idea. Anyway, it exists now, and that is your problem. HAHA!

**DISCLAIMER: **I own nothing. I just mess with cannon in my head.

**Waiting Up For Santa**

December 24th. Christmas eve. The workshop was bursting with movement and energy as all who dwelled there prepared for the evening's big moment.

"Move it!" North barked at a cluster of elves, who had once more found themselves under the Russian's heavy boot. As they scattered North continued to call out orders to the yetis "Make sure the reindeer have been hitched to the sleigh properly this time! We don't want to have to go back to Cuba to find Vixen again!" Several yetis nodded and raced off to the stables.

This continued on throughout the day, and as such the resident spirit of winter went unnoticed as he scampered along the baseboards of the workshop, like a mouse, trying to keep out of everyone's way.

Jack knew that this was a busy time for North so, for once in his life of mischief, he decided to stay out of the way.

It was hard, because this was his first Christmas as a guardian (not to mention his first Christmas in the workshop, which he had been dying to see since he first stumbled across it 300 hundred years ago) and the white haired teen was just itching to try and be of some use to North and his team.

However, North and the yetis had a system in place for Christmas, and Jack knew that if he tried to help with that system, because he was new and inexperienced in this field, that he would just slow everyone down, or accidently break something, which would cause a great deal of panic in this time of hustle and bustle.

And so Jack kept out of the way.

Hours passed and Jack had somehow managed to stay out of the way and let everything run smoothly. It was now time for takeoff. North was in his sleigh, geared up and ready to head out into the night.

The yetis were putting their finishing touches on the sleigh's takeoff preparations, when North saw Jack at the back of the room. "JACK!" he called to the teen, waving enthusiastically. Said teen looked up to see North and smiled before waving back. "I WILL SEE YOU TONIGHT MY FRIEND!" He shouted over the noise of the launch pad "DON'T WAIT UP!" and with that North was given the green light for takeoff, and shot off in the night sky to deliver gifts to his believers.

Jack smiled as he could faintly hear the traditional bellowing of "HO, HO, HO!" be heard over the cheer of success from the yetis and the elves who were slowly filtering out of the room in order to take a much needed break.

Jack stayed behind though. Smiling to himself, the boy decided that because he couldn't be much help during the day to his favourite Russian man, the he would wait up that night for when the jolly man returned to listen about his big night.

Jack's smile brightened. This was a perfect idea! Surely North would love to see that Jack had waited up for him to hear about his night! That could be how he helped! By just being a good friend, and being there for when North came home.

Pleased with himself Jack raced off towards the kitchen. He wanted to do this right!

8 bags of flour, 22,000 chocolate chips, 3 fires, 15 failed batches and one very big mess later, Jack had managed to make a decent plate of chocolate chip cookies. Smiling triumphantly he looked over at the clock on the kitchen's wall.

It was almost midnight. That meant North would be home soon!

Quickly, Jack grabbed a glass of milk, and his freshly baked cookies and took off towards North's office, excited for the return of the giant Russian.

Smiling Jack seated himself on the windowsill that he commonly occupied when he visited North's office and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

And waited.

At 3:00 am Jack felt his eyelids beginning to drop. Straightening back up he looked at the cookies he had made, which were no longer warm from the oven.

Jack frowned. Where on earth was North? He should have been home by now.

Outside North's office, stood the very Russian that Jack had spent the evening waiting for. He was watching Jack through the small window on the door. North had returned a few hours earlier when he noticed that against his advice, Jack had waited up for him. And because of this, North could not enter the room.

North knew that Jack was a fellow guardian, but his appearance was that of a child. And on Christmas, North could never bring himself to enter a room when a child still stirred. He was known for it.

He felt stupid, but his instincts would not let him enter. He just couldn't. And so he stared, guiltily, at the winter spirit who was still waiting impatiently, and trying to fight off the gentle pull of sleep.

Finally the poor boy drifted off on the windowsill and lost himself to dreams. North breathed a sigh of relief and finally entered his office.

Taking the care to hang up his red coat and his fur covered hat, North then made his way over to the slumbering teen.

The Russian smiled at the boy before turning his head and noticing the plate of cookies and milk. He took one of the chocolate chip cookies and popped it into his mouth, shuddering slightly. Too salty. A mistake, Jack obviously tried to hide but adding cinnamon. That plan didn't work.

Giving a light chuckle, North downed the glass of milk to wash down the taste of the disgusting biscuit.

North had noticed how hard Jack had tried to stay out of the way around the shop today. Clearly the boy had wanted to help but held himself back out of fear of making a mess. North knew about Jack's fear of ruining another holiday, and he felt bad that he didn't have the time that day to assure Jack that nothing he did could ruin Christmas.

North had wanted to take the winter spirit by the hand and give him something to do, to prove just that, but with it being so busy, there was no time to give the boy a job or even show him how to properly do that job. And so, Jack remained silent and nervous, much to North's dismay.

"I'm sorry Jack." He whispered to the sleeping boy "Next year I will find a way for you to help."

With that promise made, North lifted the boy into his arms and carried him into the bedroom that North had set aside for him.

The room had white walls, a large window and a soft bed with blue sheets. It was fairly sparse, but Jack had started to accumulate little things here and there that he was clearly very excited to place in _his_ room.

An old book he had found in the street, coloured paper, crudely drawn pictures given to him by the Bennett children, and several rocks that, the boy had deluded himself into thinking, looked like Bunnymund. No one had the heart to tell him otherwise.

Smiling, North placed the boy onto his bed, watching as he nestled deeper into the sheets, trying to get comfortable.

North gently smoothed the spikes in Jack's hair and chuckled softly as they sprang back into place.

It was then that Jack stirred.

Blinking tiredly, Jack looked up at North "North?" he asked, his voice raspy with sleep.

"Yes Jack." North confirmed "Go back to sleep now."

"I waited for you." Jack said "I wanted to see you when you got back."

North smiled "Ah, but Santa doesn't come to children who are awake."

Jack thought back to North's parting words of "Don't wait up" and blushed slightly.

North gave a soft laugh "The cookies you made me were delicious though." He lied.

Jack smiled sleepily "I worked really hard on them."

North nodded before running his large hand through Jacks hair once more, "It has been a long day Jack." He soothed "It is now time for sleepy winter spirits to close their eyes and rest their weary heads."

Jack nodded and slid his eyes closed once more "Night North." He murmured before sleep claimed him once more.

North smiled and reached into his back pocket before extracting a small blue stocking filled with candy canes and chocolates before he hung it on the end of Jack's bed.

"Merry Christmas Jack Frost." He said to the sleeping spirit before turning and leaving the room.

**The End**


End file.
